Concurrence in Committee Reports
Madam Speaker, I know that my colleague has young children. I have young grandchildren, and I am deeply concerned about their safety in this age of technological accessibility to the Internet and all the poison there. On the other hand, I am also very concerned about protecting privacy. I have a wide-open question: How do we find a balance between those two competing interests?
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today the leader of the common-sense Conservatives announced that we will be axing the federal sales tax on new homes. It is going to have a huge impact on ground zero of the housing crisis in metro Vancouver and right across the country. Homeowners will save $50,000 on a million-dollar home purchase, reducing their mortgage payments month after month, year after year. This tax cut wi…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, a couple of weeks ago, I asked a question during question period about the possibility of the Prime Minister's calling a carbon tax election. This was an important question for me and it was based on conversations that I had with many people in my home riding of Langley over the summer months, people who are deeply concerned about the ever-rising cost of living. We hear the Minister…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary for highlighting the fact that there has been a provincial election recently in British Columbia. He might not be aware that both parties said in their electioneering that if the federal government drops the carbon tax, they will too. There are different variations of it but, effectively, they are responding to calls from their const…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, people back at home in Langley, British Columbia, are asking me what is going on in Ottawa, why Parliament has come to a halt and what is the impasse so soon into the fall session. The NDP tore up its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals. What happened there? The NDP discovered that hitching its wagon to the Prime Minister's train was not really helping it very much where…
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Mr. Speaker, we are all getting very tired of it. I see that the member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound is gone, but he had many quotes from many constituents who are sick and tired of the corruption from the government. In my riding, it is the same thing.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, my colleague makes a great point. Indeed, this is theft, and it is not just us who are saying this. The independent auditor has said it. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has raised deep concerns about it too. Indeed, we as the opposition would not be doing our job if we were not holding the government to account on what looks like scandalous behaviour, probably crimina…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, that was an interesting question. The easy answer is that the Liberals are not going to take any advice from me. I wish they would, because we have some pretty good common-sense advice to give them. Why are they not anxious and eager to get on with their legislative agenda? I do not know. I can say that people in my riding are not all that anxious for the Liberal government to continu…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I am going to turn that around as a question for the member for Winnipeg North: Why do the Liberals not comply with the order? Parliament is supreme and we have the right to make this order. We did make the order. It is too bad for the Liberal Party that we have a minority government. It is an order of this House; it must be complied with. There is an ancient tradition in our Parliame…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, indeed, we should get on with debating things that are important to Canadians, like axing the tax, building homes that are affordable and getting the cost of living under control. I encourage the corrupt government to get on with the business of running this place in a clean, clear and ethical manner. That is what we should be debating right now.
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I was sharing some of travesties the Prime Minister has wreaked upon great institutions and great people, like David Johnston, the former governor general of this country, a man with a huge reputation until the Prime Minister appointed him as special rapporteur on foreign interference in our elections, our democratic institutions. That appointment was made despite the close ties Mr. J…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, really, the Liberals should be listening to what Parliament has told them to do. Parliament is supreme. Parliament has the right to make these types of orders. Talking about abuse of power, let us talk about the invocation of the Emergencies Act. That was an abuse of power. The courts have ruled on that. The Liberals have nothing to be proud of. They are the ones who should be taking …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, before our colleague from Winnipeg North's speech, there was a more informative speech from our colleague from the province of Quebec, whose riding is actually on the St. Lawrence. We are talking about the erosion of the St. Lawrence River due to shipping. I am reading from the recommendations from the committee report, which call on the Government of Canada to do this, that and the o…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Madam Speaker, the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands said that she was hoping we would be able to get on with the regular course of business here in the House of Commons, but is it not up to the Liberal side of the House to comply with an order from the Speaker? It is pretty clear, and I am reading from his decision, “the Chair cannot come to any other conclusion but to find that a prima facie quest…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it was on May 10 of this year that I posed a question about the Liberals' risky and failed experimentation program in British Columbia with the free distribution of hard drugs to our most severely addicted neighbours. Specifically, I wanted to know whether the Liberal members of Parliament would be voting with us, the Conservative members of Parliament, on a common-sense motion that…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary might not be aware of the recent case in British Columbia of a 13-year-old girl, Brianna MacDonald, who died in a homeless camp from a toxic drug overdose. She was in and out of the hospital many times, and despite her family urging the hospital to keep her for treatment, the hospital administration decided that at 13 years old, Brianna was able to make h…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I rise to present e-petition 4938, which has gathered more than 9,500 signatures from people across the country. The petitioners call on the House to oppose the portion of the Liberal Bill C-65 that would move the election date to one week later. This seemingly innocent change would guarantee pensions for current members of Parliament who were first elected in 2019 and who are still s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up, and now time is up. However, the NDP leader and his colleagues voted yesterday to keep the Prime Minister in power so he can quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre, the carbon tax that drives up the cost of everything and is driving a record number of British Columbians to food banks. Why is the Prime Mini…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her talk on transportation, particularly on the port of Vancouver. The member talked about supply chain disruptions in shipping grain from the Prairies to the port and off to overseas. One of those disruptions is the inability of the Port of Vancouver to load grain on rainy days, which we have quite a few of in Vancouver. Of al…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, assault is against the law in Canada, and assault gets a very broad definition in the Criminal Code, section 265: “A person commits an assault when without the consent of another person, he [or she] applies force intentionally to that other person, directly or indirectly.” Note that the definition does not talk about how forceful the force must be, but only that it is intentional an…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, I know my hon. colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby has made a real study of this subject, so I am sure that he is aware of a Supreme Court of Canada decision called Canadian Foundation for Children, Youth and the Law v. Attorney General of Canada, a decision from about 20 years ago. In it, the Supreme Court of Canada said that section 43 does not violate the Charter of Rights and…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to funding provided through the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund, since January 1, 2021: (a) what is the amount provided through the fund to date, in total and broken down by province or territory; and (b) what are the details of all funding recipients, including, for each, the (i) date of the funding, (ii) amount, (iii) recipient, (iv) location, (v) description of the related d…
Read full speech →Government Orders
With regard to any arrangements the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) has with banks or other financial institutions to back up their financing in the event that the CIB is dissolved: what are the details of any such agreements, or similar type of agreements that the CIB has entered into, including who the agreement is with, when it was signed, whether there is a cost to taxpayers, what collateral …
Read full speech →Government Orders
With regard to planned funding by the government related to "safe" or "safer" supply programs: how much does the government plan on spending on such programs, broken down by department, agency, and initiative in the current fiscal year and in each of the next five fiscal years?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, in her very thoughtful speech, my colleague from British Columbia mentioned some things that happened in committee. The Conservatives supported the general framework of the legislation, but not some of the flip-flopping that happened on some very key issues. I wonder what my colleague thinks about how important it is for Canadians to have confidence in our criminal justice system an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for Salaberry—Suroît for a very thoughtful speech and for highlighting the importance of an independent review commission. I want to thank the member for raising the case of Jacques Delisle as an example of how things can go wrong when the system is too politicized. I also want to thank her for highlighting the importance that the public must have conf…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, indeed, at second reading, we thought it was a pretty good bill. There were some drafting errors that we were pretty convinced we were going to be able to convince other committee members to amend. They disagreed with that, and what happened to the bill is that it came back worse than it went in, unfortunately, because, originally, an applicant for a judicial review of what they tho…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, after nine years of the incompetent Liberals, nine out of 10 middle-class Canadians are paying more in tax, despite promises that only the ultrarich will pay. A lot of Canadians are surprised to hear that they are now part of the ultrarich, like Karen, a retailer who bought her own commercial strata unit to save for her retirement, but now the Liberals are imposing another capital g…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge says that he is concerned about the economic effect of climate change. Well, I can say that so are the one million people who live in the Fraser Valley, who just received news last week that they will be getting zero dollars out of the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. We are getting just empty words from the Liberal Party about worrying about …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, despite what the Liberals say, they actually do not have a plan for dealing with climate change. Just ask the people from Abbotsford, Princeton and Merritt in my home province of British Columbia, who got zero dollars from the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. The Liberals' plan is to tax people, but not to actually help communities with climate-resilient infrastructure. Where …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we agree that the criminal justice review rules need to be revised. We just disagree that an alternative justice system should be created, as did the former minister of justice. A press release introducing the bill stated, “The proposed new commission would not be an alternative to the justice system. Applicants would first need to exhaust their rights of appeal before requesting a mi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I was happy to hear the Minister of Justice speak highly of the U.K. experience. A representative from the United Kingdom commission told us about the threshold language that it uses, “that there is a real possibility” that a miscarriage of justice occurred, which is much higher than the wording that is being proposed in Bill C-40. The witness also told us about a large body of jurisp…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Yes, Madam Speaker, the review threshold was at the centre of our debate. My hon. colleague from Edmonton Manning referenced evidence from the U.K. commission. Indeed, we thought that was very compelling evidence. I took it upon myself to read many of the cases, but not all of them as some were very lengthy. I was convinced that this is exactly what we wanted and I argued that at committee. None o…
Read full speech →Government Orders
moved: Motion No. 1 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting the short title. Motion No. 2 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting Clause 2. Motion No. 3 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting Clause 3. Motion No. 4 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting Clause 4. Motion No. 5 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting Clause 5. Motion No. 6 That Bill C-40 be amended by deleting Clause 6. Motion No. 7 That Bi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague on the justice committee for that question. Indeed, we take this very seriously. David Milgaard was badly served by our criminal justice system, as were many others. However, it is very important that the public maintains confidence in our court system. It actually works very efficiently. Does there have to be a review process in the event that a per…
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Madam Speaker, indeed, that was debated. The Bloc Québécois member on the committee argued passionately in favour of every person on the commission being bilingual. Conservatives argued that what is important is that bilingual services are available, and that there be at least one person on the commission, or a number of people, who can speak French as effectively as English. We did not think it w…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, does my colleague agree that we could create an independent review commission that would not necessarily lower the threshold for review? David Milgaard's problem was never that the threshold was too high, but that the system was too cumbersome.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, would the member for Edmonton Strathcona agree that we could pass legislation that would create an independent commission that is fair, open and efficient, but does not necessarily lower the threshold for review? The member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore said it does not lower the threshold at all. That then leaves me asking why we would change the wording. How is the bill better with the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member had mentioned supply chain input costs all along the way. One cost input is the carbon tax. I was talking to a friend who is a vegetable farmer in southern Ontario; he says that it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to compete with non-carbon tax regimes, such as California and even South America, which import vegetables into Canada. It is difficult for even a loc…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, in all of the debate about excess profits for large grocery stores, I am really puzzled by this one fundamental question. That is, in the supply chain, there are costs added everywhere, with input costs added at every stage. Everybody along the supply chain is making money somewhere along the line. Why pick on the very last person in the supply chain? Why not look at all the others as…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her thoughtful comments, although I do have to take exception to them. She said that Conservatives just want to criminalize all sorts of behaviour and get the streets cleaned up and that the very saintly Liberals want to help people. Their programs are failing. That is the whole point of this. They have taken one step down a very risky path, experimenting w…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, on May 3 in question period, I asked a question about the failed drug legalization pilot project in British Columbia. I say it was a failed project because we were about one year into a three-year pilot project. The evidence was clear that it was failing, with 2,500 toxic drug deaths in the first year of the project, a 7% increase over the previous year. There was crime and chaos on t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the member says the federal tax does not apply in British Columbia. It actually does. The federal government forced the British Columbia government to increase the carbon tax to beyond what the provincial government had ever planned to do, to match the federal level. I would just reassert that the carbon tax has become as unpopular in British Columbia as it has in other places in Ca…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it gives me a great deal of pleasure today to stand up to talk about the Conservatives' motion for an axe-the-tax summer vacation road trip. I had a very happy childhood, spending many hours in the great outdoors in Edmonton, Alberta, all seasons of the year, even in the winter when everything was frozen solid, but the highlight of our family's year was always planning the summer ro…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Conservative Party's “axe the tax for summer” motion, which seeks to make life more affordable for Canadians and, in particular, help them with their summer road trip. I have related the story of my fond memories of taking road trips as a child. This motion comes in the context of a cost of living crisis that Canada finds itself in the middle of. What is the N…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, the fact remains that the government does not have money to rebate until it first collects the money. I am calling it a sleight of hand. Citizens are going to be taxed until they hurt, and then the government will give some of the money back and look like a hero, look as though it is doing something. The government members say they have Canadians' backs, but it is only after the gov…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am very sensitive to the fact that different provinces want to handle their tax regimes differently, and I respect Quebec for wanting to do that. British Columbia has its own carbon tax as well, so it is not even caught by this federal government backstop. However, I can say that the carbon tax is becoming as unpopular in British Columbia as it is in the rest of the country, parti…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am up with a follow-up to a question that I had put to the Liberal minister. On May 3 in question period, I asked a question about the failed drug legalization pilot project in British Columbia. That project was a joint initiative of the federal Liberal government and the provincial NDP government to basically decriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs for personal …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, we often hear the Liberals say they are taking a science-based approach. The science is in, and it is not working. There were over 2,500 toxic deaths last year during the pilot project. It was worse than the year before. This is going in the wrong direction. We have known about this for quite a long time. The provincial government introduced this legislation a while ago, and unfortuna…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, tonight we are talking about Bill C-49, an act to amend the Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord. I am a member of Parliament from the other end of the country, the Pacific Coast, and it is a real honour for me to be joining in the debate about something that is so important to Canada. It goes to show that Canada really is a nation from sea to sea. I am from the other ocean, but …
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